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Rottman Niolox 210 Suji Review

Ok this is my first review so here goes nothing. I'd say this is the first time I've actually got a knife anyone wants to hear about! In case anyone has a feeling of deja vu, Tinh did a review of a similar knife (here) but I wanted to give my views because mine is a little different, and because of the passaround, I thought quite a few people would be interested. Compared to Tinh's knife, I believe mine is a little thicker and obviously the handle is different

The story behind this knife is that a while ago I got a Sakai Yusuke White #2 210 suji and found it incredibly useful so I thought if I were ever to go the way of a custom I'd go for something similar to sorta wet my feet. The Yusuke is/was a great knife, but after seeing Tinh's knife, I thought were a lot of things about it that were an improvement over the Yusuke. The slightly taller and flatter blade looked good to me, and due to my "forgetful" colleagues, I wanted something stainless. The Yusuke's handle is also a little small, so I wanted something a little bigger. I actually sorta got to know Tilman through something different, but it worked out pretty good.

Profile/Geometry

After using the knife for about 2 weeks in work I am very impressed. I have been using this and a 270 Konosuke HD (which Tilman also rehandled) and nothing else and there is nothing I can't do with these knives. I use the Rottman for I'd say about 60% of my work and keep the HD for larger jobs. The profile of this knife is incredibly versatile and useful. Despite being 210 long, it is a little taller than most other 210 sujis which makes it a bit better suited to gyuto like tasks, but it isn't so tall that it can't be used like a suji or petty. So I think it sort of combines a petty, gyuto and suji very well. It also has a pretty big flat portion of the blade so you can chop with it.

I mentioned this knife is a little thicker than Tinh's, I have calipers but I suck at using them, so basically the knife has a nice bit of meat in the middle but tapers pretty well to the tip so it barely flexes at all but still has a very fine tip. I believe the handle is spalted maple/ebony/blond buffalo horn

The knife has a lefty convex grind and food release is fantastic. At first when I used it I actually thought I was getting accordioning , but it was just that the excellent release meant that the things I cut stayed perfectly in place

Sharpening/ Edge Retention

I have only sharpened the knife once but it was very easy. Set the bevel on a 1200 Bester, then 5k Chosera then stropped on 0.5 Cro on leather. Burr removal was very easy

I have to say firstly I can't comment 100% accurately on edge retention because after I sharpened the knife literally before I had used it once, one of my co-workers boned out a turkey leg with it Saying that, I have used it for about 2-3 weeks and despite me using it more than my Konosuke, it has stayed a lot sharper and after stropping it still has a very usable edge now so the retention is a bit above the Konosuke I'd say

So this review is really long and I can't think of anything else to say. Overall I couldn't be happier with the knife, and Tilman is a really awesome generous guy so the whole thing has been great. Since I got it I have asked him to make me another knife so hopefully that is a good indication of how happy I am with his work. Tilman doesn't post a whole lot about his knives, but he is clearly very skilled and knows his stuff inside out and having perhaps slightly gotten to know him, I can't recommend him and his work highly enough

I got mine yesterday and agree with you on almost all counts, especially about Tilman being great to deal with. I've got another one on the way also (270 gyuto methinks) if that gives some indication of the quality of his work and how easy it is to talk with him.